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Interesting article by Michael Cromwell for PCGMedia: Why the hell should Larian Studios get your money? The current state of RPG’s

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As it stands, Original Sin has the foundations for that classic RPG experience that RPG fans are craving for, but bringing even isometric RPG’s into the modern era is still an expensive feat. All the money raised through their pledge is, as they have said, dedicated to enriching the foundations for a huge and expansive RPG world full of quirks, charm, humor, and mechanical depth.

Recently, they announced that if they pass the $800k mark, ‘Henchmen’ will become ‘Companions’, each featuring their own back story and character. What better example than this to highlight how exactly teams that work in this way can enrich true RPG experiences? Suddenly, something bare-bones mechanical, and merely functional is full of life, depth, and character. They are no longer defined by the token of their function so much as the depth of their character. That’s what an RPG is about! Scripting, polygons, and triggers do not constitute humans!

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Why the hell should Larian Studios get your money?

Well, the answer to that is really simple. Larian are the only developer, since forever, who were trying to make an ambitious, traditional RPG (with turn-based combat!), before all the isometric RPG Kickstarter craze happened. That deserves respect and support.

And I enjoyed their previous games, which does not hurt either. wink

The article itself is ok, although a little long and not that interestingly written. Still, pretty cool of the author to write such a piece. smile

Last edited by Mico Selva; 06/04/13 09:42 PM.

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Larian are the only developer, since forever, who were trying to make an ambitious, traditional RPG'

While it is true, the original idea and concept of D:OS gained a lot from Kickstarter... but suffered a lot as well. It is a valid question what outweights what.
I hope they won't go Kickstarter for the RPG that "will dwarf them all". It won't survive thru it.

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Originally Posted by Kein
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Larian are the only developer, since forever, who were trying to make an ambitious, traditional RPG'

While it is true, the original idea and concept of D:OS gained a lot from Kickstarter... but suffered a lot as well. It is a valid question what outweights what.
I hope they won't go Kickstarter for the RPG that "will dwarf them all". It won't survive thru it.


In what ways do you think it has suffered from the Kickstarter campaign?

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From what I can tell, because Larian's vision of the game is different than the vision of the game he's created in his own head.

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So, why did they turn to Kickstarter? Because Larian Studios built a true-to-form RPG with their own money, for people who genuinely love RPG’s. It’s 2013, and people want some extra flair, so Larian, having already earnestly crafted something agreeable to RPG fans, having worn their hearts on their sleeves, are saying: help us to make this better. No compromise. No publishers. No bullshit. Depth, scale, density. There’s always space for revisions, and there’s always space for more – they are creating a world, not just a game. Unequivocally striving for perfection; entertaining all quirks.


What elso to say? claphands


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Why the hell should Larian Studios get your money?


Easily, their honesty with the community. Telling their games lacked quality due to financial constraint is a big + for me. I couldn't find a developer so interactive with its community. Look at EA. Recently, the CEO stepped down due to his marketing skills (or extortion skills).

By the by, EA implemented heavily on DLCs. I think we won't see much of DLCs for this game except if it is related to the game's storyline as swen have stated here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghsiPPJN3rE @ 10:45. If anyone is interested in the modding of D:OS you should also probably go to the link I've provided.


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Originally Posted by Stabbey
From what I can tell, because Larian's vision of the game is different than the vision of the game he's created in his own head.


Well I guess it could be argued that Larian is exchanging one set of tyrants for another. Instead of a publisher making demands, it's the backers.

But, the developers aren't really answerable to the fans in the same rigid sense they would be a publisher. I don't see Larian getting pushed around by the kickstarter backers. They have a long history of changing things based on fan input, but abandoning the integrity of the whole game? Nah.

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Whatever the reason, I just treated it as a per-order on my end, with the side benefit we get additional features if it hits marks.


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